Preps Plus.

Swimmer Makes Huge Splash

December 05, 1999|By Jack McCarthy. Special to the Tribune.

Kristen Brennan stands alone at the pinnacle of Illinois swimming.

At last month's state girls swimming finals, the St. Charles senior became the most decorated swimmer in Illinois history, winning four more championships to close her high school career with a record 12 first-place medals.

"Her accomplishments speak for themselves," her high school and club coach Jennifer Heyer said of Brennan, the Tribune's Athlete of the Month for November.

At November's state meet at New Trier, Brennan:

- Won the 100-yard freestyle title for the third straight year, this time in a record 50.10 seconds.

- Captured her second career 50-yard freestyle title in :23.21.

- Anchored a 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished in a national-record 1 minute 34.54 seconds.

- Anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay, pulling away in the final leg to give St. Charles a state-record victory in 3:26.01 and enough team points to win its sixth straight state team championship.

"It was awesome," Brennan said. "I don't think we would have been much better. We set state records, national records and pool records, and everyone swam their best and gave their best effort."

In conversation outside of swimming, Brennan is poised and articulate, with a ready smile and pleasant demeanor. It's a different story in the pool.

"I think her personality is pretty much contradictory," Heyer said. "When you talk to her and you're around her, she's kind of soft-spoken. Then, to watch her in the water, it's like she's trying to kill someone. She's a fierce competitor. It's such a difference."

Brennan got her first taste of state competition as a freshman, when she swam against swimming legends like Palatine's Allison Wimer and Elk Grove's Lindsay Farella.

"I was nervous because I really didn't know what to expect," she said. "I definitely looked up to Wimer and Farella. They were extremely fast, and I was a little afraid of swimming against them."

She held her own that first year with a third place in the 100 and fourth in the 50. The next year she began her record-setting medal run.

Although Brennan's specialty is freestyle events, she's able to do much more.

"A big thing about Kristen that we don't always get to see is that she can swim other things," Heyer said. "She's a good backstroker, she can swim the individual medley, she can swim a 500."

Still, Brennan shines brightest in freestyle. She'll be at this summer's U.S. Olympic Trials, where she already has earned qualifying times in the 50 meters and 100 free. And she hopes to earn a 200 freestyle qualifying time through national competition this spring.

She'll also compete in college and is in the process of selecting a school; her top three choices are Arizona, Wisconsin and Virginia. Her approach in making a choice is similar to her approach in the pool.